I built my first fly rod grip. I did not bore the reel seat before hand. So now I have to bore for the seat. Anyone on here with advice on how to bore it out? Next time I will bore first and ask question later...lol Also, the reel seat is .791. A 13/16 is about as close a spade bit. Would you trim it down or use it? I just wondering if the epoxy will hold with a gap like that.
Thanks

Mark

I often do mine after. I put the grip in a vice rotated on the drill press to support most of the grip. I picked up a set of forstner bits for about $20 that are in 1 or 2mm increments. I pick one that is close. Center the grip on the drill press using a regular spiral bit and then replace it with the boring bit. Not sure how well the spade will work. If you have a dremel tool you can undersize the bore and then open it up with a sanding drum or burr.

Without a lathe it can be very difficult. If you are using cork rings that have a predrilled hole there are a couple of bit designs made for the task. One uses a short pilot shaft on the front of the bit and the other has a reverse cutting edge. Both styles come in different diameters. Use the size slightly smaller than the blank diameter and then ream to fit. You should be able to find video of both style in action.

I've looked into the method Quinn uses but haven't found the vise to which he refers. Also not sure what size drill press he is using. The "throw" on some of the smaller ones isn't long enough to bore a grip.

One thing for certain......drill in small increments backing the bit out so you are dumping the removed material rather than trying to make one long bore. Again, there are videos that will show you the technique.

My drill press is a floor model so there is plenty of room. The vice is simply a vice that clamps to the drill press table and has long jaws parallel to the table. It has X and Y adjustments. If I rotate the table 90 degrees then the jaws are parallel with the direction of the drill bit. Ideally you want to bore out the ring before glue up. However I only remember about half the time :-(
Another method i've used is to hold the grip in a vice with two pieces of 1/4" plywood (one on each side) that support the whole grip. Line things up and drill way!

Quin,

I have a floor drill press and I thought of using my cork clamp to steady the grip. With the forstner bits, do you have any issues with them grabbing the cork and tearing it up?

Paddle bits rip the cork.
Use a hole saw.
Get one that will either cut exact hole you need - or get slightly larger and file off the teeth facing outward enough to get a good fit.
Herb

If your talking about the bore for the hidden hood, bore it exact or smaller and then use something like a dremel to open it up to the correct fit

Ron Weber

I kind of find it funny that these reel seat inserts do not line up with a standard bit size. Or do they? in other words, a .791 size could be drilled to an xx size allowing for epoxy??

I use a section of broken rod butt and use contact cement to glue fairly coarse sandpaper to it. If you use paste-type flexible epoxy to secure grip to blank "close" is plenty good enough.

Well I went and got a 13/16 spade bit ground it down, (as someone mentioned) mandrel then took my home made cork ring vice, bored out the mandrel lock diameter, locked the grip in the mandrel, about an inch in from the top, put it in the floor drill press and WALA! It worked.

Is this for the BLANK ? or the recessed hood for the reel seat ? I am not sure , as .791 is very large foe a blank

William Sidney
AK

A 13/16 Forstner bit fits most fly rod reel seats hood very close with it usually taking only a very small enlargement. I use a Dremel sanding drum to get it to exact size. The key to drilling it by hand with either a Forstner or spade is to go SLOW! The spade has more of a tendency to fracture the cork than the Forstner. To center the Forstner I use a wood dowel of the current hole size with the end recessed with a brad point to act as a centering pilot. Have done hundreds in both cork and woods.

My Crafty Cutter gets it done pretty simply. Adjustable for different needs, centers on grips center bore for blank.

[www.mudhole.com]

Nice tool Roger, I did buy a 3.99 spade bit and it seems to do the job.